mosker

Something Sinister

Standing guard

Another setup: Something Sinister

Not so sinister

One of the most intriguing things about creating images for Something Sinister is finding a way to suggest ambiguity. Is the source of the subject's distress an accident or did someone cause them harm? I figured the kitchen was a great place to shoot--not only is it the location of plenty of household accidents, but it also has lots of implements that can double of weapons. This setup, which was supposed to suggest a slip on a loose throw rug, completely failed, but it did teach me two things: (1) a disembodied foot provokes much less empathy than a disembodied hand (something Suzanne tried to tell me), and (2) if I have a kitchen accident and I'm lying prone on the floor, the cats will be happy to see if there's anything good to eat in the frying pan.

more Something Sinister

I wasn't sure I wanted to post this picture. It's not that I don't like it, but it was actually my first attempt after Suzanne and I talked about the project, and it sort of looks like I was just copying her idea. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, though, so maybe using her image as inspiration isn't that horrible. And this does look an awful lot like that painful spill I had on the deck earlier this summer while I was harvesting basil.

I like the texture of the wood against the basil, and the small scale of the house and trees in the background suggest that help might not be arriving quickly. But I'm not sure there's anything terribly sinister about it either.

Or maybe I could just stop chattering and let you make up your own mind.

Something Sinister

The other day Suzanne called and told me about her plan for Something Sinister. We threw some ideas back and forth, and while I thought it was a great idea, I couldn't really visualize quite what she had in mind. And then I saw her first post and was blown away. I am completely prepared to concede defeat right now and acknowledge her brilliance, but I don't think that's quite the collaboration she had in mind when she proposed the project.

I wanted my first effort to be different from Suzanne's while still staying with the theme, so I went indoors and converted to b&w.

Tell me what you think, send some ideas for other images, or better yet, create your own images and post a comment either here or at Suzanne's blog.